User equipment

ABSTRACT

There is provided a terminal including a processor that includes, in capability information, a frequency separation between a lower edge of a component carrier with a lowest frequency for supported carrier aggregation and an upper edge of a component carrier with a highest frequency for the supported carrier aggregation; and a transmitter that transmits the capability information to a base station.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a radio communication system.

BACKGROUND ART

Currently, in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP),specifications of a new radio communication system, which is called NewRadio Access Technology (NR) system, have been developed, as a successorto the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system and the LTE-Advanced system.

In the development of the specifications, a specification of capabilityinformation (UE Capability) for the NR system is currently discussed.For the NR system, use of a millimeter wave frequency band higher thanthe 24 GHz band has been studied, and, in order to use such a millimeterwave frequency band, combinations of component carriers provided withdifferent separations (frequency separations) are assumed to be used forintra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation (CA).

PRIOR ART DOCUMENT Non-Patent Document

-   [Non-Patent Document 1] R2-1800022-   [Non-Patent Document 2] R2-1712137-   [Non-Patent Document 3] 3GPP TS 36.101 V14.5.0(2017-09)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Problem to be Solved by the Invention

When the combinations of the component carriers provided with thedifferent separations can be used for the carrier aggregation, userequipment is required to report, to a base station, which bandcombinations with corresponding separations are supported for thecarrier aggregation, as capability information.

However, as for carrier aggregation band combinations corresponding tosuch different separations, a scheme for reporting separations ascapability information is currently not discussed.

There is a need for a scheme for efficiently reporting, as capabilityinformation, separations between component carriers for carrieraggregation supported by user equipment.

Means for Solving the Problem

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided userequipment including a capability information storage unit that storescapability information of the user equipment; and a capabilityinformation transmitting unit that reports the capability information toa base station, wherein the capability information transmitting unitreports, to the base station, a separation between component carriersfor carrier aggregation supported by the user equipment, as thecapability information.

Advantage of the Invention

According to the present disclosure, the separations between thecomponent carriers for carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment can be efficiently reported, as the capability information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of bandcombinations provided with different separations;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a radio communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration ofuser equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating carrier aggregation bandwidth classesincluding separations according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of acarrier aggregation bandwidth class according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of acarrier aggregation bandwidth class according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating carrier aggregation bandwidth classesincluding separations according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7A is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of acarrier aggregation bandwidth class according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7B is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of acarrier aggregation bandwidth class according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating separation classes according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9A is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of aseparation class according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9B is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of aseparation class according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10A is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of aseparation class according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10B is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of aseparation class according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating separations according tovarious embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of abase station according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram illustrating a specific example of ahardware configuration of each of the user equipment and the basestation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the following, embodiments of the present invention are describedbased on the drawings.

In the following embodiments, user equipment supporting carrieraggregation is disclosed. In intra-band non-contiguous CA, an availableMIMO layer number may differ depending on a separation between componentcarriers (CCs). For this reason, similar to LTE, reporting of anavailable MIMO layer number for each band of a band combination, ascapability information, has been discussed in NR. In contrast, in RAN 2,capability information related to the MIMO layer number is not reportedfor each band of the band combination, and the capability informationrelated to the MIMO layer number, as baseband capability, has beenstudied to separate from band combination signaling.

However, in the notation of the band combination specified in theexisting LTE, cases in which separations between component carriers ofintra-band non-contiguous CA are different may be unable to beappropriately represented, and, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the cases maybe denoted as identical band combinations (e.g., CA_n77A-n77A).Accordingly, when a MIMO layer number differs depending on a separationbetween component carriers, for each band combination, a separationbetween component carriers and a MIMO layer number for each band arerequired to be reported as capability information, and, thus, asignaling size may increase. Accordingly, there is a need for acapability information signaling method for efficiently reporting aseparation between component carriers and a MIMO layer number.

According to the present disclosure, user equipment reports, to a basestation, a separation between component carriers for carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment, as capability information. According toan embodiment, user equipment reports, to a base station, a combinationof component carriers (a band combination) for carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment and a carrier aggregation bandwidthclass indicating a separation between the component carriers, ascapability information. Alternatively, in another embodiment, userequipment reports, to a base station, a combination of componentcarriers (a band combination) for carrier aggregation supported by theuser equipment and a separation class indicating a separation betweenthe component carriers for the carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment, as capability information. Upon receiving the capabilityinformation, the base station can detect the combination of thecomponent carriers for the carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment and the separation between the component carriers.

First, a radio communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is described by referring to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is aschematic diagram illustrating a radio communication system according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, a radio communication system 10 includes userequipment 100 and a base station 200. Typically, the radio communicationsystem 10 is an NR system. However, the radio communication system 10 isnot limited to this, and the radio communication system 10 may be any3GPP compliant radio communication system specified by 3GPP, or may be anon-3GPP compliant radio communication system.

The user equipment 100 is an information processing device including afunction for radio communication with the base station 200 through acell. For example, without limiting, the user equipment 100 may be amobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet, a wearable device, etc.

The base station 200 executes radio communication with multiple units ofuser equipment including the user equipment 100, under control by ahigher layer station (not depicted), such as a core network. In an NRsystem, the base station 200 may be referred to as a gNB, for example.In the depicted embodiment, only one base station 200 is illustrated.Typically, multiple base stations are deployed to cover a coverage rangeof the radio communication system 10.

Next, user equipment according to an embodiment of the present inventionis described by referring to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a block diagramillustrating a functional configuration of the user equipment accordingto the embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the user equipment 100 is provided with acapability information storage unit 110 and a capability informationtransmitting unit 120.

The capability information storage unit 110 stores capabilityinformation of the user equipment 100. Specifically, the capabilityinformation storage unit 110 maintains capability information (UECapability) representing various types of capability and functionssupported by the user equipment 100. For example, when the userequipment 100 supports carrier aggregation, the capability informationstorage unit 110 maintains capability information including aninformation element representing that the user equipment 100 supportscarrier aggregation and an information element representing details of aband combination with which the carrier aggregation can be executed.

The capability information transmitting unit 120 reports capabilityinformation to the base station 200. Specifically, upon receiving acapability information query message from the base station 200, thecapability information transmitting unit 120 transmits capabilityinformation stored in the capability information storage unit 110 to thebase station 200. In the embodiment, the capability informationtransmitting unit 120 reports, to the base station 200, a separationbetween component carriers for carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment 100, as the capability information. Specifically, as describedin detail below, the capability information storage unit 110 maintainscapability information including an information element representing afrequency separation (frequency separation) between at least twocomponent carriers for intra-band non-contiguous CA supported by theuser equipment 100, and, in response to receiving a capabilityinformation query message from the base station 200, the capabilityinformation transmitting unit 120 transmits the capability informationincluding the information element to the base station 200.

In an embodiment, the capability information storage unit 110 may storea combination of component carriers for carrier aggregation supported bythe user equipment 100 and a carrier aggregation bandwidth classrepresenting a separation between the component carriers supported bythe user equipment 100. At this time, the capability informationtransmitting unit 120 may report, to the base station 200, thecombination of the component carriers for the carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment 100 and the carrier aggregationbandwidth class, as the capability information.

As an example, for intra-band non-contiguous CA up to 2 CCs, carrieraggregation bandwidth classes, such as those shown in FIG. 4, may bedefined. For example, if the user equipment 100 supports the carrieraggregation bandwidth class A, as depicted, the user equipment 100 iscapable of executing radio communication such that a number of componentcarriers is 1 and an aggregated channel bandwidth (CBW) is 100 MHz.Similarly, if the user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregationbandwidth class C, as depicted, the user equipment 100 supports carrieraggregation such that a number of component carriers is 2, an aggregatedchannel bandwidth (CBW) is from 100 MHz to 200 MHz, and a separationbetween center frequencies of component carriers (Fs) is the channelbandwidth (i.e., two component carriers are contiguous). Similarly, ifthe user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation bandwidth classD, as depicted, the user equipment 100 supports carrier aggregation suchthat a number of component carriers is 2, an aggregated channelbandwidth (CBW) is from 100 MHz to 200 MHz, and a separation betweencenter frequencies of component carriers (Fs) satisfies CBW<Fs≤2CBW.Similarly, if the user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregationbandwidth class E, as depicted, the user equipment 100 supports carrieraggregation such that a number of component carriers is 2, an aggregatedchannel bandwidth (CBW) is from 100 MHz to 200 MHz, and a separationbetween center frequencies of component carriers (Fs) satisfies2CBW<Fs≤4CBW.

The capability information storage unit 110 may maintain a carrieraggregation bandwidth class supported by the user equipment 100, amongthe carrier aggregation bandwidth classes defined as described above,and the capability information transmitting unit 120 may report, to thebase station 200, the carrier aggregation bandwidth class maintained inthe capability information storage unit 110, as the capabilityinformation. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, if the user equipment 100supports the carrier aggregation bandwidth class C in Band n77, thecapability information transmitting unit 120 may report, to the basestation 200, a combination of component carriers for carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment 100 and the carrier aggregationbandwidth class CA_n77C representing a separation between the componentcarriers, as the capability information. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 5B,if the user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation bandwidthclass D in Band n77, the capability information transmitting unit 120may report, to the base station 200, a combination of component carriersfor carrier aggregation supported by the user equipment 100 and thecarrier aggregation bandwidth class CA_n77D representing a separationbetween the component carriers, as the capability information. Uponreceiving the capability information, the base station 200 canrecognize, based on the received capability information, that the userequipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation with the separation, suchas the depicted separations.

Additionally, as shown in FIG. 6, the above-described embodiment can beapplied to three or more CCs. For example, if the user equipment 100supports the carrier aggregation bandwidth class E, as depicted, theuser equipment 100 supports carrier aggregation such that a number ofcomponent carriers is 3, an aggregated channel bandwidth (CBW) is from200 MHz to 300 MHz, and a separation between center frequencies ofcomponent carriers (Fs) is 2CBW (i.e., three component carriers arecontiguous). Similarly, if the user equipment 100 supports the carrieraggregation bandwidth class F, as depicted, the user equipment 100supports carrier aggregation such that a number of component carriers is3, an aggregated channel bandwidth (CBW) is from 200 MHz to 300 MHz, anda separation between center frequencies of component carriers (Fs)satisfies 2CBW<Fs≤4CBW.

The capability information storage unit 110 may maintain a carrieraggregation bandwidth class supported by the user equipment 100, amongthe carrier aggregation bandwidth classes defined as described above,and the capability information transmitting unit 120 may report, to thebase station 200, the carrier aggregation bandwidth class maintained inthe capability information storage unit 110, as the capabilityinformation. For example, as shown in FIG. 7A, if the user equipment 100supports the carrier aggregation bandwidth class E in Band n77, thecapability information transmitting unit 120 may report, to the basestation 200, a combination of component carriers for carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment 100 and the carrier aggregationbandwidth class CA_n77E representing a separation between the componentcarriers, as the capability information. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 7B,if the user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation bandwidthclass F in Band n77, the capability information transmitting unit 120may report, to the base station 200, a combination of component carriersfor carrier aggregation supported by the user equipment 100 and thecarrier aggregation bandwidth class CA_n77F representing a separationbetween the component carriers, as the capability information. Uponreceiving the capability information, the base station 200 canrecognize, based on the received capability information, that the userequipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation with the separation, suchas the depicted separation.

Here, a carrier aggregation bandwidth class may be associated with aMIMO layer number. Specifically, a MIMO layer number that can besupported by the user equipment 100 may be indicated by a BPC (BasebandProcessing Combination) index representing a function related to abaseband of the user equipment 100, and a carrier aggregation bandwidthclass supported by the user equipment 100 may be associated with the BPCindex. For example, if the user equipment 100 supports the carrieraggregation bandwidth class C and a MIMO layer number X corresponding toa BPC index #1 in Band n77, the capability information transmitting unit120 may report, to the base station 200, the above-described CA_n77C andthe associated BPC index #1, as the capability information. Similarly,if the user equipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation bandwidthclass F and a MIMO layer number Y corresponding to a BPC index #2 inBand n77, the capability information transmitting unit 120 may report,to the base station 200, the above-described CA_n77F and the associatedBPC index #2, as the capability information.

Additionally, in another embodiment, the capability information storageunit 110 may store a separation class representing a separation betweencomponent carriers for carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment 100. At this time, the capability information transmittingunit 120 may report, to the base station 200, a combination of thecomponent carriers for the carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment 100 and the separation class supported by the user equipment100, as the capability information.

As an example, for intra-band non-contiguous CA up to 2 CCs, separationclasses, such as those shown in FIG. 8, may be defined. For example, ifthe user equipment 100 supports a separation class I, as depicted, theuser equipment 100 supports carrier aggregation such that a separationbetween center frequencies of component carriers (Fs) satisfiesCBW<Fs≤2CBW. Similarly, if the user equipment 100 supports a separationclass II, as depicted, the user equipment 100 supports carrieraggregation such that a separation between center frequencies ofcomponent carriers (Fs) satisfies 2CBW<Fs≤4CBW. Similarly, if the userequipment 100 supports a separation class III, as depicted, the userequipment 100 supports carrier aggregation such that a separationbetween center frequencies of component carriers (Fs) satisfies4CBW<Fs≤8CBW.

The capability information storage unit 110 may maintain a separationclass supported by the user equipment 100, among the separation classesdefined as described above, and the capability information transmittingunit 120 may report, to the base station 200, the separation classmaintained in the capability information storage unit 110, as thecapability information. For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, if the userequipment 100 supports a band combination CA_n77 with two contiguouscomponent carriers in Band n77, the capability information transmittingunit 120 may report CA_n77C to the base station 200, without reportingthe separation class. Whereas, as shown in FIG. 9B, if the userequipment 100 supports the band combination CA_n77 with twonon-contiguous component carriers and the separation class I in Bandn77, the capability information transmitting unit 120 may report, as thecapability information, CA_n77IA-n77IA to the base station 200. Uponreceiving the capability information, the base station 200 canrecognize, based on the received capability information, that the userequipment 100 supports the carrier aggregation with the separation, suchas the depicted separation.

The above-described embodiment can be applied to three or more CCs. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 10A, if the user equipment 100 supports a bandcombination CA_n77 with three contiguous component carriers in Band n77,the capability information transmitting unit 120 reports CA_n77E to thebase station 200 without reporting a separation class. Whereas, as shownin FIG. 10B, if the user equipment 100 supports the band combinationCA_n77 with three non-contiguous component carriers and the separationclass II in Band n77, the capability information transmitting unit 120may report, as the capability information, CA_n77IIA-n77IIA-n77IIA tothe base station 200. Upon receiving the capability information, thebase station 200 can recognize, based on the received capabilityinformation, that the user equipment 100 supports the carrieraggregation based on the band combination with the separation, such asthe depicted separation.

Here, a separation class may be associated with a MIMO layer number.Specifically, a separation class supported by the user equipment 100 maybe associated with a BPC index. For example, if the user equipment 100supports the separation class I and a MIMO layer number X correspondingto a BPC index #1 in Band n77, the capability information transmittingunit 120 may report, to the base station 200, the above-describedCA_n77IA-n77IA and the associated BPC index #1, as the capabilityinformation.

Additionally, in an embodiment, a separation between component carriersfor carrier aggregation may take a same value or different values fordownlink communication and uplink communication. For example, if theuser equipment 100 supports a band combination with a same separationfor both downlink CA and uplink CA, the capability informationtransmitting unit 120 may report, as the capability information, theseparation that takes the same value to the base station 200. Whereas,if the user equipment 100 supports a band combination with differentseparations for downlink CA and uplink CA, the capability informationtransmitting unit 120 may report, to the base station 200, theseparation for the downlink CA and the separation for the uplink CA, asthe capability information.

In the above-described embodiments, the separation is defined to be afrequency separation between center frequencies of a component carrierin a highest frequency band and a component carrier in a lowestfrequency band. However, in another embodiment, as illustrated in FIG.11, a separation may be defined to be a frequency separation betweeninner edges of a component carrier in a highest frequency band and acomponent carrier in a lowest frequency band, or a frequency separationbetween outer edges of a component carrier in a highest frequency bandand a component carrier in a lowest frequency band.

Next, by referring to FIG. 12, a base station according to an embodimentof the present invention is described. FIG. 12 is a block diagramillustrating a functional configuration of the base station according tothe embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the base station 200 includes a communicationcontrol unit 210 and a UE capability information management unit 220.

The communication control unit 210 controls radio communication with theuser equipment 100. Specifically, in order to execute radiocommunication with the user equipment 100, the communication controlunit 210 transmits and receives various types of radio signals, such asdownlink control/data signals and/or uplink control/data signals.

The UE capability information management unit 220 maintains capabilityinformation received from the user equipment 100. Specifically, the UEcapability information management unit 220 transmits a capabilityinformation query message to the user equipment 100, and the UEcapability information management unit 220 receives capabilityinformation from the user equipment 100 in response to the capabilityinformation query message.

In the embodiments, as described above, the user equipment 100transmits, to the base station 200, capability information including aseparation between component carriers for carrier aggregation supportedby the user equipment 100. Upon receiving the capability information,the communication control unit 210 can detect, based on the receivedcapability information, a band combination for the carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment 100 and the separation between thecomponent carriers, and the communication control unit 210 can configurethe carrier aggregation on the user equipment 100 based on thearrangement of the component carriers in the band combination supportedby the user equipment 100.

Conclusion of the Embodiments

As described above, according to the embodiments, there is provided userequipment including a capability information storage unit that storescapability information of the user equipment; and a capabilityinformation transmitting unit that reports the capability information toa base station, wherein the capability information transmitting unitreports, to the base station, a separation between component carriersfor carrier aggregation supported by the user equipment, as thecapability information. According to the user equipment, the separationbetween the component carriers for the carrier aggregation supported bythe user equipment can be efficiently reported as the capabilityinformation.

The capability information storage unit may store a combination of thecomponent carriers for the carrier aggregation supported by the userequipment and a carrier aggregation bandwidth class supported by theuser equipment, the carrier aggregation bandwidth class representing theseparation between the component carriers, and the capabilityinformation transmitting unit may report, to the base station, thecarrier aggregation bandwidth class supported by the user equipment, asthe capability information.

The carrier aggregation bandwidth class may be associated with a MIMOlayer number.

The capability information storage unit may store a separation classrepresenting the separation between the component carriers for thecarrier aggregation supported by the user equipment, and the capabilityinformation transmitting unit may report, to the base station, acombination of the component carriers of the carrier aggregationsupported by the user equipment and the separation class supported bythe user equipment, as the capability information.

The separation class may be associated with a MIMO layer number.

The separation between the component carriers of the carrier aggregationmay take identical values or different values for downlink communicationand uplink communication.

The separation may be a frequency separation between center frequenciesof a component carrier in a highest frequency band and a componentcarrier in a lowest frequency band; a frequency separation between inneredges of the component carrier in the highest frequency band and thecomponent carrier in the lowest frequency band; or a frequencyseparation between outer edges of the component carrier in the highestfrequency band and the component carrier in the lowest frequency band.

User equipment includes a controller that includes, in capabilityinformation, a frequency separation between a lower edge of a componentcarrier with a lowest frequency for supported carrier aggregation and anupper edge of a component carrier with a highest frequency for thesupported carrier aggregation; and a transmitter that transmits thecapability information to a base station.

The controller may include a combination of the component carriers forthe carrier aggregation in the capability information.

The capability information may be associated with a MIMO layer number.

The transmitter may include a separation class representing theseparation between the component carriers for the supported carrieraggregation and a combination of the component carriers for thesupported carrier aggregation in the capability information, and maytransmit the separation class and the combination to the base station.

The separation class may be associated with the MIMO layer number.

The separation between the component carriers of the carrier aggregationmay take identical values or different values for downlink communicationand uplink communication.

The separation may be a frequency separation between center frequenciesof the component carrier in the highest frequency band and the componentcarrier in the lowest frequency band; a frequency separation betweeninner edges of the component carrier in the highest frequency band andthe component carrier in the lowest frequency band; or a frequencyseparation between outer edges of the component carrier in the highestfrequency band and the component carrier in the lowest frequency band.

A transmission method by user equipment includes a step of including, incapability information, a frequency separation between a lower edge of acomponent carrier with a lowest frequency for supported carrieraggregation and an upper edge of a component carrier with a highestfrequency for the supported carrier aggregation; and a step oftransmitting the capability information to a base station.

Supplemental Embodiment

The block diagrams used for the descriptions of the above-describedembodiments represent blocks on a function-by-function basis. Thesefunctional blocks (components) are implemented by any combination of atleast one of hardware and software. Here, a means for implementing eachfunctional block is not particularly limited. Namely, each functionalblock may be implemented by one device that is physically or logicallycombined, or may be implemented by a plurality of devices that isobtained by directly or indirectly (e.g., using a wired line or awireless link) connecting two or more devices that are physically orlogically separated. A functional block may be implemented by combiningsoftware with the above-described one device or the above-describedplurality of devices.

The functions include determination, decision, judgment, calculation,computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search,confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution,selection, choice, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation,deeming, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding,configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, assigning, etc.However, the functions are not limited to these. For example, afunctional block (component) for transmitting is referred to as atransmitting unit or a transmitter. As described above, a method forimplement any one of these is not particularly limited.

For example, the user equipment 100 and the base station 200 accordingto the embodiment of the present invention may function as computers forexecuting a process of the radio communication method of the presentinvention. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a hardwareconfiguration of each of the base user equipment 100 and the basestation 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Each ofthe above-described user equipment 100 and base station 200 may bephysically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, amemory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an inputdevice 500, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

Note that, in the following description, the term “apparatus” can beread as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration ofeach of the user equipment 100 and the base station 200 may beconfigured to include one or more of the respective devices illustrated,or may be configured not to include a part of the devices.

Each function of the user equipment 100 and the base station 200 isimplemented by loading predetermined software (program) on hardware,such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002, so that the processor1001 performs computation and controls communication by thecommunication device 1004, and at least one of reading and writing ofdata in the memory 1002 and the storage 1003.

The processor 1001, for example, operates an operating system to controlthe entire computer. The processor 1001 may be configured with a centralprocessing unit (CPU: Central Processing Unit) including an interfacewith a peripheral device, a control device, a processing device, aregister, etc. For example, each of the above-described components maybe implemented by the processor 1001.

Additionally, the processor 1001 reads a program (program code), asoftware module and data from at least one of the storage 1003 and thecommunication device 1004 to the memory 1002, and executes variousprocesses according to these. As the program, a program is used whichcauses a computer to execute at least a part of the operations describedin the above-described embodiments. For example, a process by eachcomponent of each of the user equipment 100 and the base station 200 maybe implemented by a control program stored in the memory 1002 andexecuted by the processor 1001, and another functional block may besimilarly implemented. Although it is described that the above-describedvarious processes are executed by a single processor 1001, theabove-described various processes may be simultaneously or sequentiallyexecuted by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may beimplemented with one or more chips. Note that the program may betransmitted from a network via an electric communication line.

The memory 1002 is a computer readable recording medium, and the memory1002 may be formed of at least one of a read-only memory (ROM), anerasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableROM (EEPROM), a random access memory (RAM), etc. The memory 1002 may bereferred to as a register, a cache, a main memory (main storage device),etc. The memory 1002 can store executable programs (program codes),software modules, etc., that can be executed to implement the radiocommunication method according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

The storage 1003 is a computer readable recording medium, and, forexample, the storage 1003 may be formed of at least one of an opticaldisk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexibledisk, a magneto-optical disk (for example, a compact disk, a digitalversatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, aflash memory (for example, a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy(registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, etc. The storage 1003 maybe referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-describedstorage medium may be, for example, a database including the memory 1002and/or the storage 1003, a server, or any other suitable medium.

The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission/receptiondevice) for performing communication between computers via a wiredand/or wireless network, and, for example, the communication device 1004is also referred to as a network device, a network controller, a networkcard, a communication module, etc. The communication device 1004 may beconfigured to include a high frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, afrequency synthesizer, etc., to implement at least one of frequencydivision duplex (FDD: Frequency Division Duplex) and time divisionduplex (TDD: Time Division Duplex). For example, atransmission/reception antennal 101, an amplifier 102, a transceiver103, a transmission line interface 106, etc., may be implemented by thecommunication device 1004. The transceiver 103 may be implemented suchthat a transmitter 103 a and a receiver 103 b are physically orlogically separated.

The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, amicrophone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) for receiving an inputfrom outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., display,speaker, LED lamp, etc.) that performs output toward outside. Note thatthe input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated (forexample, a touch panel).

Furthermore, the devices, such as the processor 1001 and the memory1002, are connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus1007 may be formed of a single bus, or the bus 1007 may be formed ofbuses that are different among the devices.

Furthermore, each of the user equipment 100 and the base station 200 maybe configured to include hardware, such as a microprocessor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP: Digital Signal Processor), an ASIC (ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), an FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array), etc., and a part or all of thefunctional blocks may be implemented by the hardware. For example, theprocessor 101 may be implemented with at least one of these hardwarecomponents.

Notification of information is not limited the aspect/embodimentdescribed in the present specification and may be performed by othermethods. For example, notification of information may be performed viaphysical layer signaling (for example, Downlink Control Information(DCI) or Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher-layer signaling (forexample, RRC signaling, MAC signaling, broadcast information (MasterInformation Block (MIB), or System Information Block (SIB)), othersignals, or by a combination thereof. Moreover, RRC signaling may bereferred to as an RRC message, and, for example, the RRC message may bean RRC connection setup (RRC Connection Setup) message, an RRCconnection reconfiguration (RRC Connection Reconfiguration) message, orthe like, for example.

Each aspect/embodiment described in this specification can be applied tolong term evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced,4G, 5G, future radio access (FRA), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM(registered trademark), CDMA2000, ultra mobile broadband (UMB), IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, ultra-wideband (UWB),Bluetooth (registered trademark), any other systems using an appropriatesystem and/or next generation systems extended on the basis of thesesystems.

In processing procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc., of eachembodiment/modified example described in the specification, the ordermay be changed provided that there is no contradiction. For example, forthe methods described in the specification, the elements of the varioussteps are presented in an exemplary order and are not limited to aspecific order presented.

The specific operations that are described in the specification to beperformed by the base station 200 may be performed by their upper nodesin some cases. In a network formed of one or more network nodesincluding a base station, it is apparent that the various operationsperformed for communication with the terminal may be performed by thebase station and/or a network node other than the base station (e.g.,MME or S-GW can be considered, however, not limited to these). In theabove description, a case is exemplified in which there is one networknode other than the base station. However, it can be a combination ofother network nodes (e.g., MME and S-GW).

Information, etc., may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer)to a lower layer (a higher layer). Input and output may be performedthrough a plurality of network nodes.

Input and output Information, etc., may be stored in a specific location(for example, a memory) and may be managed by a management table. Theinput and output information and the like may be overwritten, updated,or rewritten. The output information and the like may be erased. Theinput information and the like may be transmitted to other apparatuses.

Determination may be made by a value (0 or 1) represented by one bit,may be made by a Boolean value (Boolean: true or false), or may be madeby comparison of numerical values (comparison with a predeterminedvalue, for example).

Each aspect/embodiment described in this specification may be usedalone, may be used in combination, or may be used while being switchedduring the execution. Furthermore, notification of predeterminedinformation (e.g., notification of “being X”) is not limited tonotification that is made explicitly, and the notification may be madeimplicitly (e.g., notification of the predetermined information is notperformed).

The present invention is described in detail above. It is apparent to aperson ordinarily skilled in the art that the present invention is notlimited to the embodiments described in the specification. The presentinvention can be implemented as modifications and alterations withoutdeparting from the gist and scope of the present invention that aredetermined by the descriptions of the claims. Accordingly, thedescriptions of the present specification are for the purpose ofillustration and does not have any restrictive meaning to the presentinvention.

The software should be widely interpreted to mean an instruction, aninstruction set, a code, a code segment, a program code, a program, asubprogram, a software module, an application, a software application, asoftware package, a routine, a subroutine, an object, an executablefile, an execution thread, a procedure, a function, etc., regardless ofwhether the software is referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language or other names.

Furthermore, software, instructions, etc., may be transmitted andreceived via a transmission medium. For example, when the software istransmitted from a website, server, or another remote source using atleast one of wired technology (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair and digital subscriber line (DSL)) and wireless technology(infrared, radio, microwave, etc.), at least one of these wired andwireless technologies is included within the definition of thetransmission medium.

Information, signals, etc., described in the present disclosure may berepresented using any of various other techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, andthe like mentioned in the entire description may be represented byvoltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic field or magneticparticles, optical field or photons, or any combination thereof.

Note that the terms described in this disclosure and the terms necessaryfor understanding of this specification may be replaced with termshaving the same or similar meaning. For example, at least one of achannel and a symbol may be signal (signaling). Furthermore, a signalmay be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be referredto as a carrier frequency, a cell, etc.

The terms “system” and “network” as used in this disclosure are usedinterchangeably.

Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc., described in thisspecification may be represented by absolute values, may be representedas relative values from predetermined values, or may be represented byany other corresponding information. For example, the radio resource maybe indicated by an index.

The names used for the above-described parameters are not for limitingin any point. Furthermore, mathematical expressions, etc., using theseparameters may be different from those explicitly disclosed in thisspecification. Since the various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) andinformation elements (e.g., TPC etc.) can be identified by suitablenames, the various names assigned to these various channels andinformation elements are not for limiting in any point.

In the present disclosure, it is assumed that “BS (Base Station),”“Radio Base Station,” “Fixed Station,” “Node B,” “eNode B (eNB),” “gNodeB (gNB),” “access point,” “transmission point,” “reception point,”“transmission/reception point,” “cell,” “sector,” “cell group,”“carrier,” “component carrier,” etc., can be used interchangeably. Abase station may also be referred to by a term, such as a macro cell, asmall cell, a femtocell, and a pico-cell.

A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells (alsoreferred to as sectors). When the base station accommodates a pluralityof cells, the entire coverage area of the base station can be dividedinto a plurality of smaller areas, and each smaller area may alsoprovide communication services by base station subsystem (e.g., indoorsmall base station RRH: Remote Radio Head). The term “cell” or “sector”refers to a part or all of the coverage area of a base station and/orbase station subsystem that provides communication service in thiscoverage. Furthermore, the terms “base station,” “eNB,” “cell,” and“sector” may be used interchangeably in this specification. The basestation may also be referred to as a fixed station, a NodeB, eNodeB(eNB), an access point, a femtocell, a small cell, etc.

In the present disclosure, the terms, such as “mobile station (MS),”“user terminal,” “user equipment (UE),” “terminal”, etc., can be usedinterchangeably.

A mobile station may be referred to, by a person ordinarily skilled inthe art, as a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, awireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, awireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriberstations, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, aremote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, orit may also be called by some other suitable terms.

At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be referredto as a transmitter, a receiver, a communication device, etc. At leastone of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mountedon a mobile body, the mobile body itself, etc. The mobile body may be avehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile body (e.g.,a drone, an automatically driven vehicle, etc.) or a robot (a mannedtype or an unmanned type). At least one of the base station and themobile station also includes a device that does not necessarily moveduring a communication operation. For example, at least one of the basestation and the mobile station may be an IoT (Internet of Things)device, such as a sensor.

The base station in the present disclosure may be replaced with a userterminal. For example, each aspect/embodiment of the present disclosuremay be applied to a configuration obtained by replacing communicationbetween a base station and a user terminal with communication between aplurality of user terminals (which may be referred to as D2D(Device-to-Device), V2X (Vehicle-to-Everything), etc. for example). Inthis case, the user terminal 20 may be provided with the functions ofthe above-described base station 10. Additionally, terms, such as“uplink” and “downlink,” may be replaced with terms corresponding tointer-terminal communication (e.g., “side”). For example, an uplinkchannel, a downlink channel, etc., may be replaced with side channels.

Similarly, the user terminal in the present disclosure may be replacedwith the base station. In this case, the configuration may be such thatthe base station 10 is provided with the functions of the user terminal20.

The terms “determine (determining)” and “decide (determining)” used inthis specification may include various types of operations. For example,“determining” and “deciding” may include deeming that a result ofcalculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up(e.g., search in a table, a database, or another data structure), orascertaining is determined or decided. Furthermore, “determining” and“deciding” may include, for example, deeming that a result of receiving(e.g., reception of information), transmitting (e.g., transmission ofinformation), input, output, or accessing (e.g., accessing data inmemory) is determined or decided. Furthermore, “determining” and“deciding” may include deeming that a result of resolving, selecting,choosing, establishing, or comparing is determined or decided. Namely,“determining” and “deciding” may include deeming that some operation isdetermined or decided.

The terms “connected,” “coupled,” or any variation thereof mean anydirect or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements,and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elementsbetween the two elements “connected” or “coupled” to each other. Thecoupling or connection between the elements may be physical, logical ora combination thereof. Two elements, when used in this specification,can be considered to be mutually “connected” or “coupled by using onemore wires, cables and/or printed electrical connections, and, as somenon-limiting and non-inclusive examples, by using electromagnetic energysuch as electromagnetic energy with a wavelength in a radio frequencyrange, a microwave range, and an optical range (both visible andinvisible).

The reference signal may be abbreviated as RS (Reference Signal), andmay be referred to as a pilot (Pilot) according to applicable standards.

The expression “on the basis of” used in the present specification doesnot mean “on the basis of only” unless otherwise stated particularly. Inother words, the expression “on the basis of” means both “on the basisof only” and “on the basis of at least.”

Any reference to elements using names, such as “first” and “second,” asused in this specification does not generally limit the amount or orderof those elements. These names can be used in this specification as aconvenient way to distinguish between two or more elements.

Accordingly, the reference to the first and second elements does notimply that only two elements can be adopted, or that the first elementmust precede the second element in some way.

“Means” in the configuration of each of the above-described devices maybe replaced with “part,” “circuit,” “device,” etc.

As long as “include,” “including,” and variations thereof are used inthis specification or the claims, the terms are intended to be inclusivein a manner similar to the term “comprising.” Furthermore, the term “or”used in the specification or claims is intended not to be an exclusiveOR.

A radio frame may be formed of one or more frames in the time domain. Inthe time domain, each of the one or more of frames may be referred to asa subframe. A subframe may be formed of one or more slots in the timedomain. A slot may be formed of one or more symbols (OFDM symbols,SC-FDMA symbols, etc.) in the time domain. Each of the radio frame,subframe, slot, and symbol represents a time unit for transmitting asignal. The radio frame, subframe, slot, and symbol may be called byrespective different names. For example, in LTE system, the base stationperforms scheduling to allocate radio resources (a frequency bandwidth,transmission power, etc., that can be used by each mobile station) toeach mobile station. The minimum time unit of scheduling may be referredto as TTI (Transmission Time Interval). For example, one subframe may bereferred to as TTI, a plurality of consecutive subframes may be referredto as TTI, or one slot may be referred to as TTI. A resource block (RB)is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and the frequencydomain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in thefrequency domain. Additionally, the resource block may include one ormore symbols in the time domain, and may have a length of one slot, onesubframe, or one TTI. Each of one TTI and one subframe may be formed ofone or more resource blocks. The above-described configuration of theradio frame is merely an example, and the number of subframes includedin the radio frame, the number of slots included in the subframe, thenumber of symbols and resource blocks included in the slot, and thenumber of subcarriers included in the resource block can be variouslychanged.

In the present disclosure, if an article is added by translation, suchas “a,” “an,” and “the” in English, the disclosure may include that thenoun following the article is plural.

The embodiments of the invention are described above in detail. However,the invention is not limited to the above-described specificembodiments, and various modifications and changes may be made within arange of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.

This international application is based upon and claims priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2018-003712 filed on Jan. 12, 2018, andthe entire content of Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-003712 isincorporated herein by reference.

LIST OF REFERENCE SYMBOLS

-   -   10 radio communication system    -   100 user equipment    -   200 base station

The invention claimed is:
 1. A terminal comprising: a processor thatincludes, in capability information, a separation class indicating afrequency separation between a lower edge of a component carrier with alowest frequency for supported intra-band non-contiguous carrieraggregation and an upper edge of a component carrier with a highestfrequency for the supported intra-band non-contiguous carrieraggregation; and a transmitter that transmits the capability informationto a base station, wherein the separation class takes discrete values.2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the processor includes acombination of the component carriers for the intra-band non-contiguouscarrier aggregation in the capability information.
 3. The terminalaccording to claim 2, wherein the capability information includes a MIMOlayer number.
 4. A transmission method by a terminal, the methodcomprising: including, in capability information, a separation classindicating a frequency separation between a lower edge of a componentcarrier with a lowest frequency for supported intra-band non-contiguouscarrier aggregation and an upper edge of a component carrier with ahighest frequency for the supported intra-band non-contiguous carrieraggregation; and transmitting the capability information to a basestation, wherein the separation class takes discrete values.
 5. A radiocommunication system comprising: a terminal; and a base station, whereinthe terminal includes a processor that includes, in capabilityinformation, a separation class indicating a frequency separationbetween a lower edge of a component carrier with a lowest frequency forsupported intra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation and an upperedge of a component carrier with a highest frequency for the supportedintra-band non-contiguous carrier aggregation; and a transmitter thattransmits the capability information to the base station, wherein theseparation class takes discrete values, and wherein the base stationincludes a receiver that receives the capability information.